


Just Another Day at the Office

by DizzyDrea



Category: Flashpoint (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Police, Gen, Trope Bingo Round 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-03 22:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10976208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: For Phil Coulson and the rest of the Strategic Response Unit, it was just another day at the office.





	Just Another Day at the Office

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favorite shows on tv was called Flashpoint, which was a Canadian production that CBS aired during the summers a few years back. It starred Enrico Colantoni, who is one of my favorite actors. I got to wondering what The Avengers might look like if they were part of the SRU, and this AU was born.
> 
> For the _AU: Other_ square on my Trope Bingo card.
> 
> Disclaimer: The Avengers and all its particulars are the property of Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios, and a lot of other people who aren’t me. Flashpoint and all its particulars is the property of CTV, CBS, Avamar Entertainment, Pink Sky Entertainment, and a lot of other people who aren't me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

The sharp bark of the alarm cracked through the relative silence of HQ, causing multiple heads to pop up.

Team One had been going over a past case, something they did frequently, reviewing procedures and hashing out alternatives to the choices they'd made the last time. It was one of the reasons why Team One was so good at their jobs: they never sat back on their laurels, always looking for ways to improve.

"Alright, Team," Sergeant Phil Coulson said, standing up at the head of the table. "Everybody gear up. Be downstairs at the trucks in ten minutes."

Most of the team had already been halfway out the door by the time the words had left Phil's mouth. He knew he didn't have to even give the order. They all knew the drill; most of them had been with the team for years, and on the job even longer. Still, some things never changed, and that had become as much a part of procedure as what gear they wore into the field.

Phil moved through the conference room and into the lobby of their bullpen, stopping at the high counter, behind which sat their dispatcher, Maria Hill. He knocked on the counter, more out of habit than to get her attention.

"What have we got, Maria?"

"Reports of a disturbance at the Millennium Tower in the Financial District," she said, eyes on her screen as her hands typed furiously. "Man with a gun, bunch of freaked out people. Business as usual for us, Boss."

Phil gave a faint smile. "Just once, I'd like someone to put us out of business."

"Roger that," Maria said, her own faint smile echoing his.

"Get everything you can on the situation, and have someone get the Command Truck out to the scene. We may need it."

"Will do, Boss," she said. Her eyes flicked up to her CO before returning to her screen. "Good luck."

Phil nodded and headed for the locker room. His second in command, Steve Rogers, had his vest and weapon sitting on the bench for him. Phil flashed a grateful smile and hurriedly pulled on his tac gear, securing his usual ball cap on his head in record time as he followed the rest of his team out.

Once in the elevator, they went through the standard comm check, though he didn't have any doubt that the equipment was in top shape. If there was one thing Tony Stark could be counted on for, it was keeping their tech gear in better than top shape. 

Pushing through the barely-open elevator doors, they separated and loaded into two vehicles. Phil, Steve and Tony in the first, followed by the other three members of his team: Clint Barton, Thor Odinson, and the lone female on the team, Natasha Romanov.

"Okay, team, listen up," Phil said when they were finally away, racing across town to the Financial District. "We have an unknown suspect with a gun at Millennium Tower. We're going to need a tenant list for the building, as well as plans from the City. Any reports from the officers on the scene?"

"Hammer Industries has their headquarters in the building," Tony muttered from the back seat as his fingers flew over the keyboard of his laptop. "Plus a couple of attorney's offices and a financial services firm, if I remember correctly."

"Is Pepper okay?" Steve asked, his eyes firmly glued to the road.

"She's headed for some conference in Toronto," Tony said, waving a negligent hand in the air. "Said something about leaving a day early to network, so she shouldn’t be in the building today."

"I've got building schematics on the way to Tony," Maria chimed in. "Plus that tenant list you asked for."

"Thanks, Maria," Phil said. "Any word from the scene?"

"PD is just arriving," Natasha piped up from the other SUV. "Lots of people running from the building, but precious little usable intel so far."

"Okay, team, looks like we're going in blind," Phil said. "Stay safe out there."

He hated not knowing what they were facing. It could be someone looking for a ledge to jump off of, or it could be someone with an axe to grind. In Phil's experience, those were always the hardest to deal with, so he could only hope it would be someone who forgot he'd tucked a gun in his bag that day. He snorted, knowing they'd never be that lucky.

Moments later, they were pulling up in front of the building. True to Natasha's report, the area was chaotic. There were several police vehicles restricting access around the building, but there were still people milling about and even more pouring out of the building. Tony was out of the SUV before it had completely stopped, darting toward the Command Truck, likely to look at the plans Maria had sent in more detail.

Phil stepped out of the SUV and headed over to one of the officers on the scene.

"Blake," he said, reaching out to shake the man's hand. "We need to get these people out of here. Without knowing what this guy wants or even where he's gone, I don't want to take any chances."

"I've got my men herding the lookie-loos behind the barriers," Blake said. "But it looks like word spread to the other floors, because the offices are emptying out pretty quickly."

"Just do what you can," Phil said. He patted the man on the shoulder and headed back to his team. "Why don't you guys give them a hand getting folks behind the barriers while I check in with Stark? Maybe see if you can talk to anyone who saw our gunman in the building."

Everyone nodded and scattered around the scene as Phil stepped into the truck. "What have we got, Stark?"

"Some of the officers escorting people out of the building said they saw the man get off the elevator at Hammer Industries," Tony said. 

"Alright," Phil said, noting the tension in Tony's voice and the bunch of his shoulders. His girlfriend might not be in the building, but that was where she worked, so he could understand the man might be a little concerned. "Do we know anything else? Who he is, what he's after?"

"One of the unis said a couple people recognized him as Carl Tinsley," Tony said. Phil leaned closer as Tony tapped out a quick command on the keyboard, hands resting on the gun clipped to his tac vest, as a picture of a middle-aged man, receding hairline and the sallow look of defeat that spoke of too many years of being underappreciated appeared on the screen.

"Okay, get everything you can on him," Phil said. "Did building security give you access to the security cameras?

Tony nodded. "I'm working on pulling them up now. Their system's a little antiquated, so I'm having to run an algorithm to smooth out the interface."

"Just do what you can," Phil said. "The sooner we can get eyes on the floors, the sooner we can figure out where this guy went and make sure he doesn't hurt anyone."

~o~

"Alright, Stark, tell me what you've got," Phil said as he rejoined Tony in the truck. 

He'd gone out to check on the rest of the team and see if there were any more witnesses. They'd talked to a few more people who'd all confirmed that Carl Tinsley was their suspect, and that he'd exited the elevators on the 15th floor, which was the reception area for Hammer Industries. Everyone had said he looked harried and agitated, and had been brandishing a hand gun of indeterminate type.

When they'd gotten as much as they could out of the witnesses, he'd returned to the truck, the rest of the team filing in after him. It was a tight fit, but they'd done it before when they all needed to hear what their resident tech specialist had to say.

"Meet Carl Tinsley," Tony said, waving a hand at the monitor. "Age 37 but looks closer to fifty. I'm guessing it's the pack-a-day habit. And the vodka, but maybe that just makes him a lightweight."

Natasha snorted.

"I'm guessing he works for HI," Phil said.

Tony nodded. "Been with them for going on ten years. The guy's a boy scout. Pays his taxes, takes his two weeks' vacation every year. Visits his mother every Sunday like clockwork. No idea what set him off, but he's been planning this for a while."

"How do you know?" Thor asked.

Tony hit a key on the laptop and a new document popped up. "He bought a gun a few weeks ago. Duly registered and permitted. Even took the required gun safety course."

"Well, it's reassuring to know the gun laws are working," Clint said sarcastically.

This time, Natasha's snort was followed by a none-too-gentle smack on Clint's chest. He reached up and rubbed the spot, not that he could have felt it through the tac vest, but it was a long-running joke between the two.

"Do we have any idea who or what he might have been after?" Phil asked.

"Nope," Tony said. "I do have a likely location for him in the building."

He tapped a few more keys, and up popped the video surveillance in the building. The camera was facing down a hall, but there was a conference room with frosted glass windows just inside the field of view. Shadows and movement were dimly visible through the obscured glass.

"Any idea how many people are inside?" Steve asked, moving closer to the screen to get a better look.

Tony shook his head. "Sorry, Cap. The door was already closed by the time I saw this. I checked the rest of the HI floors and they're pretty much empty. PD is going floor-by-floor through the rest of the building to evacuate anyone left behind."

"Just in case the gun isn't all this guy brought with him," Steve said, nodding.

"Can we contact him?" Phil asked. "Cell phone, maybe? Or does that conference room have a phone we can call?"

"I didn't find a cell phone listed for him," Tony said. 

"Who doesn't have a cell phone these days?" Clint muttered.

"Says the guy who's preferred weapon is a bow and arrow, _Hawkeye_ ," Tony said, cutting a glance at his teammate. "But there's a phone in the room. Actually, there's two phones. One is the Polycom on the table and the other is a wall phone."

"Call the wall phone," Phil said, nodding. "Let's see if Tinsley will talk to us. Meanwhile, start looking for a way up there that doesn't involve the main elevators. I don't want this guy tipped off that we're coming. Clint, do we have a good view into the conference room from the surrounding buildings?"

Clint shook his head. "It's no good. The conference rooms are all in the spine of the building. Too much glass and too many partitions in the way. I can't get a clear shot."

"With the doors frosted, visibility sucks anyway, so I'm not sure we want to take that route," Steve said, frowning. "You might hit a hostage instead of our perp."

"I agree," Phil said, glancing at the video feed. "Okay, let's work on an entry plan while I talk to Tinsley."

The other four moved further into the truck and huddled around the large screen at the end where Tony had projected the building schematics. Their hushed conversation wasn't intrusive, so Phil dismissed them and focused on the call Tony was making.

The phone rang a few times before a timid voice answered. "Hello?"

"Hello," Phil said, putting a smile into his voice, trying to sound as non-threatening as he could. "My name is Sergeant Phil Coulson with the Strategic Response Unit. Am I speaking with Carl Tinsley?"

"No, I'm Nate Worthington," the man said. His voice was wavering, which meant he was probably scared out of his mind.

"Nate," Phil said, again projected soothing calm. "Can you put Mr. Tinsley on the phone? We need to talk to him."

A whispered conversation went on just out of hearing range, and then an angry man barked into the phone.

"What do you want?"

"Hi, Mr. Tinsley," Phil said. "I'm—"

"I know who you are," Tinsley cut in.

"Then you know why I'm calling," Phil said. "I'd like to understand what's going on here today. Can you help me do that?"

"What's going on is my boss," and Phil could hear the sneer in his voice, "has stolen from me for the last time. I'm here to get what's mine."

"Now, Mr. Tinsley," Phil said, "I know you're upset—"

"Upset?" the man shouted. "I'm way past upset. Hammer's just a no-good lowlife who couldn't invent a better paperclip. I'm tired of him skating by on my inventions. If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way."

The click on the line was definitive. Phil looked to Tony, who tried dialing the number a few more times but it was obvious Tinsley wasn't interested in talking to them. Tony shook his head. "He's not picking up."

"Is there any other way to get eyes in the room?" Phil asked. "Could we run a cameral inside from the ceiling?"

"It's a drop ceiling," Tony said, typing quickly. "We could do it, but if we're not careful, he'd hear us coming. Unless…"

"Unless what?" Phil asked.

"Aha!" Tony exclaimed.

"What? Stark—"

"There's a camera in the conference room, Boss," Tony said, turning around. "They recently renovated their offices, and one of the things they installed was teleconferencing equipment in all their conference rooms. All I have to do is tap into the feed for the camera in that room and we should have a pretty good picture of who's in the room."

"Can you do it without him seeing?" Phil asked. He snapped his fingers, and the rest of his team crossed the truck at speed, gathering around Tony's screens. He turned his head slightly to address the others. "We may have a way to see into the conference room."

"How is this possible?" Thor asked.

"Teleconferencing equipment, Point Break," Tony said, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

"And there we go," Tony said. The camera feed came up on a secondary monitor, showing the back of what must be Carl Tinsley, standing just in front of the screens. It was the people at the other end of the room that left them all shocked. "Fuck."

Phil put his hand on Tony's shoulder and squeezed, keeping him in his seat. At the opposite end of the table, he could easily recognize Justin Hammer, along with his top executives. Hammer liked his people to be seen, and often, because it kept his company fresh in people's minds. What further complicated an already complicated situation was the person sitting to the right of Hammer at the table: Pepper Potts. Tony's girlfriend.

"Wasn't she supposed to be—oof—"

Phil gave Natasha an approving nod. They did not need Clint pointing out the obvious. Tony was already hanging on by a thread. Phil could feel the tension in the shoulder under his hand. They didn't need him going off and doing something rash.

"Alright, now we know he's got six people in there besides himself," Phil said. "Thoughts?"

Steve glanced at Tony briefly, then looked back at Phil. "There's really only one option: there are two doors on either side of the room, one at each end. We send one person through each door, plus one to drop down from the ceiling vent, right in front of Tinsley. We do it at the same time, he won't have time to react. Plus, with all of us coming from different directions, he won't know who to target first. That'll give us the edge. We go non-lethal so we can arrest him; I don't like the idea of going in lethal with all those people in the room."

"Agreed," Phil said. "Let's get ready. I want—"

"I'm going in through the ceiling," Tony said, standing up.

All eyes swung to him. No one wanted to say it, but Phil knew they were all thinking it. Tony would be a liability in the field. They couldn't guarantee he wouldn't just shoot Tinsley if given the chance.

"It should be me," Clint finally said, breaking the silence. "I'm the one with the training."

 _And the level head_ , Phil thought. Clint hadn't had an especially easy life, but he'd done a stint in the Army when he was younger. Today, those skills would come in particularly handy.

"I—it needs to be me," Tony said quietly. "I can't let anyone else get between this idiot and my girlfriend."

"You're too big to fit through those vents, Stark, and you know it," Natasha pointed out. "Pepper will be okay. Clint'll make sure of it."

"Absolutely," Clint said, nodding firmly to back it up.

Phil looked at Tony, carefully assessing the man's state of mind. He'd grown up privileged, but didn't let that show. Graduating from MIT wasn't the normal path to police work, but Tony had wanted to give back, to protect and serve alongside the people who'd saved his parents from being killed when he was young. The man who stood before him now was clear-headed and calm. Whatever was roiling beneath the skin wasn't showing, and Phil could only hope that he'd keep it together until the operation was over.

"Okay, Clint, you take the ceiling," Phil said. He held up a hand when Tony made to protest. "The four of you take the doors. Stark and Romanov, I want you on the ones nearest Ms. Potts. Pull the feed up on a tablet and I'll monitor the video, see if I can get Tinsley to answer the phone. If he's talking to me, he won't notice you guys approaching."

Five solid nods, and a couple of _Yes, Bosses_ , and his team raced to get themselves set up for the takedown.

~o~

They did a final radio check in the freight elevator on the way up. Tony had downloaded the video feed and activated the sound on the camera, then connected the whole thing to their comm system. Everyone was listening to Tinsley rant about what a lying, thieving douchebag he thought his boss was. 

"Christ," Clint said. "We need to get in there ASAP. The longer this goes on, the more likely it is that Hammer doesn't make it out alive."

"Agreed," Phil said. "I'm going to try the phone one more time, but I don’t expect him to pick up. Be prepared to go on my signal. Do not, I repeat do not—" and here he looked directly at Tony "—shoot unless absolutely necessary."

Tony's expression was grim, but he gave a tight nod. Phil knew it was about as much as he could hope for, so he let it go and hoped he could rely on Tony's training to keep him from doing something rash.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Phil asked.

Again he received a quiet round of Yes, sirs, everyone more professional now that they were on the verge of executing their plan. Thor reached out and placed a hand on Tony's shoulder, squeezing gently.

"We will protect your lady, Stark," he said with quiet conviction. "Her safety shall be our priority."

"Thanks," Tony said.

It said a great deal that he hadn't used a single of the nicknames he was so famous for among the team since they'd identified his girlfriend on the camera feed. He'd graced each of them with a call sign—except for Thor, who really was from Norway, and really did look like a Norse god—and then insisted at every turn on using some variation of that nickname. Phil nodded at Tony, giving his own assurance as the team checked over their equipment just as the doors to the freight elevator opened.

Clint and Thor peeled off and headed for the AC vent high on the wall next to the freight elevator. Giving him a boost, Thor helped Clint into the vent and then rejoined the team.

"Okay, he's not picking up, and he's showing signs of further agitation," Phil said quietly. "Let's move out. Hand signals only from here on out. Hawkeye, two clicks is your go signal."

"Roger that," Clint said quietly from somewhere above them.

The remaining team members moved quietly through the halls of the company, headed for the large conference room in the center of the building. Agitated voices could be heard through the frosted glass, and the shadows moving around inside showed at least one person on their feet. Phil checked the video feed and, sure enough, Tinsley was pacing the front of the room, waving his arms around. The only good news was that his finger wasn't on the trigger of the gun he still held. That would slow his reaction time down, giving Clint time to take him out with the Taser.

The team got into position, one person at each door; Phil hung back to run through the final check before he gave the go signal.

"Okay, final status check," Phil said quietly. "Captain America?"

Phil heard the single click of his comm telling him Steve was in position. "Black Widow?"

Again a single click. "Thor?"

One more click and he took position behind Tony, tapping the man on the back of the shoulder twice. Tony gave a terse nod to signal he was ready. Phil reached up and clicked once on his mic, to request a final status check on Hawkeye's position. Long moments ticked by as they waited for him to make his way through the ducts.

Finally, he heard one soft click over the comm system, which meant Clint was in position and ready to drop into the room. Phil checked the video feed, watching Tinsley's progress as he paced the room. When he'd paced far enough away from the rest of his hostages, Phil reached up and pressed his comm activation button twice, giving the all-clear for the team to move in.

In a burst of activity, Clint dropped down from the ceiling vent onto the middle of the table at the same moment that the rest of the team slid the doors open and entered the room, guns up but not yet ready to shoot. 

Tinsley stopped, completely stunned at the sight of six armed officers standing in the room. Clint fired his Taser, dropping Tinsley fast and quiet. The man flopped around on the floor even as Thor picked up the gun he'd dropped. 

"Is everyone okay?" Phil asked, edging out from behind Tony to look around the room as he tucked the tablet inside his vest. He got mostly nods from the people at the table, though he didn't think that meant they were okay, just that they were glad it was over. "Okay, sit tight. Once we have Mr. Tinsley in custody, we'll get you all to EMS and then get your statements."

Phil got more nods. He turned to check on Tony and Pepper, who were wrapped around each other, whispering softly to one another. He smiled faintly, patting Tony on the back as he walked past. Thor and Steve had Tinsley in handcuffs. The man was still belligerent, still ranting, but now that he'd been rendered harmless, he just sounded crazy.

"You don't understand," Tinsley was saying as Phil approached. "He stole my ideas. My _patents_! I worked hard on those and he just stole them. He used them to introduce new products, things I should be compensated for. But no, I got nothing because he's a greedy bastard."

"Mr. Tinsley," Steve said, expression the epitome of polite and sincere. "Do me a favor and shut up."

Clint and Natasha both snorted, and Thor laughed out loud, but it was Tony's reaction that was the most heartening. "Cap, you're my favorite. Seriously. You're getting a new tac vest. Just as soon as we get back."

"Hey, I thought I was your favorite," Clint said. "I shot the asshole."

"You, Merida, are getting a brand new bow and quiver of arrows," Tony said, pointing at their marksman. "How does an exploding arrow sound?"

"Like Christmas came early," Clint said. The two men high-fived on the way out.

Phil smiled and shook his head. "Okay, team, let's clear out. Steve, turn our friend here over to PD for booking. Reports on my desk by end of day tomorrow."

"Yes, Boss," the team chorused.

He could hear Hammer ranting about the lax security in the building, but a couple of shouted _Shut ups_ seemed to startle him into silence. Phil knew that Tony had been practically begging Pepper to quit HI and strike out on her own. He figured the man might just win that argument now.

They made their way downstairs, Steve and Thor accompanying their perp downstairs while the rest of them escorted the hostages down to the waiting EMTs. He stood on the steps of the building, watching as PD, fire and his own people moved around, organizing witnesses, managing the scene and keeping the chaos to a minimum.

"Good work today," Phil said when Clint stepped up next to him.

"Just another day at the office, Boss," Clint said. He winked and patted him on the shoulder as he headed off to join the rest of the team, turning at the last minute to shout, "Meet us at Lindy's later?"

Phil just nodded, a small smile tipping his lips. They'd celebrate another crisis averted, and head home hoping tomorrow would be just as easy. It wasn't everyone's idea of an office job, but he wouldn't trade it for the world.

~Finis


End file.
